Seabourne Freight

Franglais:
I counted how many ferries Arklow have.
Didn`t take very long, they have none.
Ferries can be chartered in, but on what time scale? The same questions about getting ferries apply to Arklow as to any other hirer: where and when can they get a ferry?

If Arklow have ship for charter ships, why can’t there be companies that have Ferries available to charter?
I know from experience there are aircraft up to large airliners available for both long and short term charter, (I was asked by a boss once to find an airliner to charter for a season it was a fun project and quite possible, but to pricey to make it viable ) why can’t it be the same in shipping to allow for peaks and troughs in demand or unforeseen circumstances, boss didn’t want a ferry, ?
As for timescales, Seaborne had been formed long before this and had been making plans, who’s to say that didn’t include working on deals to get ships?
Much of the criticism of the Seabourne was their lack of shipping experience, well they seems to have been working with a company which had that experience.

Franglais:
If a Minister signs up a start up company then he should say “Look, its a long shot, but its worth a punt” and stand by it. Its his choice and up to him to defend his position. If he tied his own hands with confidentiality clauses` HE is to blame.

I think the confidentiality problem, was due to commercial confidentiality, which is quite common in commerce, especially while setting up a new project.

Franglais:
The media are doing their job, and if they see a company has it`s terms and conditions copied from a takeaway menu, who can blame them for taking the mickey? Is that hysteria?
And proposing a ferry port that needs maybe months of dredging before any operations could take place? Grayling, at the very least jumped the gun: maybe saying “Further talks are ongonig, but are in the early stages, and no details yet”? But maybe that would have been (justifiably) criticised as being too insubstantial, too little, too late.

So the media ignore the over £90m given to the other companies, instead get hysterical about one company, who were already planning to get a ferry service running and would only get the money if they delivered.

Takeaway menu or test website?

Franglais:

muckles:
Seabourne would only have got the money if they had actually provided a ferry service, so no money has been given to a company without ferries

That is true. Some money may have been expended on chasing this project, but that is a just a normal cost. No great financial loss, tis true.

No great financial loss at the end of the day.
A startup with no shipping experience, backed by a shipper with no ferries, and no viable port.
A minister trying to make a speculative contract spin-up into something more substantial?
Looks like it to me. And the media did their job of letting us know.

If this hadn’t been about Brexit and been government consider giving grant to company to reinstate port and provide ferry service in an economically deprived area, would the media spin have been different?

The media did their job of letting us know, or carried on pushing their own agenda?